Strawberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream

A hot, sunny summer holiday weekend is all the reason I need to indulge in a few of my favorite treats. To celebrate Canada Day here in Brooklyn, R and I had smoked meats and Labatt Blue for lunch today at Mile End. For the Fourth of July, we’ll eat chicken slathered in my favorite homemade BBQ sauce and Strawberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream for dessert.

I’ve made this ice cream several times before, and I gave it a quick nod a while back when I made an equally tasty Blueberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream. Tangy sour cream really makes the sweetness of summer berries pop. The little splash of almond extract in this version is a subtle but nice touch. And…it’s pink…super-pretty pink! While, of course, you can stash ice cream in the freezer for several days, I do think this one is best eaten within several hours of making it, while it’s soft and the dairy has the freshest taste. (The base is uncooked, and the ice cream will get quite hard as it continues to freeze.) So get a quart of berries while they’re still in season, invite a few friends to come around and enjoy!

-Hull strawberries and place in a 3- to 4-quart pan. Coarsely mash with a potato masher. Add 1/2 cup sugar and pinch of salt and stir occasionally over medium-high heat until mixture begins to bubble, three to five minutes.

-Add remaining 1/2 cup sugar and nest pan in a bowl of ice water and stir often until cold, about ten minutes. Remove pan from ice water. You can store this in the fridge (covered) for a day or so before continuing on, if you wish.

-Add sour cream, half-and-half, vanilla, and almond extract to berries; stir until blended (mixture will be streaked). At this point, you can store the base in the refrigerator for several hours before churning.

-Pour into an ice cream maker (1 1/2-qt. or larger capacity). Freeze according to manufacturer’s directions until mixture is softly frozen, dasher is hard to turn, or machine stops.

-Spoon out and serve softly frozen or, to scoop, freeze airtight about four hours; store airtight in the freezer up to one week.